Legendary
by RK Ryune
Summary: It is said that death only comes when one is forgotten. Does that make legendary heroes immortal? 100 years from now, Izayoi Higurashi is finding out the truth behind the legend of the Shikon no Tama... and unlocking her family's deepest secrets.
1. Chapter 1

_Stronger than the strongest man, take confidence_

_Like iron, have determination and resilience_

_Now all the players have their part_

_And like a bullet through the heart_

_We realize that this was meant to be_

Determination.

If one word sums it up, it's determination. Miroku's determination to get an heir and lose his Kazanaa, Sango's determination to avenge her family and free Kohaku, Kagome's determination to find the shards and destroy evil.

And Inuyasha's determination to show the world he's more than just a hanyou.

That's what made them legendary.

How is it that a simple fairy tale can survive this long, and cause such national passion? Is it possible that one girl and the man… no, half-demon, who loved her changed the entire course of history?

Their statues are still in the quad of Tokyo University. There's Inuyasha, with his famous Tetsusaiga drawn, ready for battle. There's Miroku, arm extended, the carved hole in his right hand. Sango, giant boomerang thrown back behind her head, like a fierce Valkyrie. Shippo, perched on Kagome's shoulder, and Kagome herself, arrows drawn and hibakama fluttering in an imaginary breeze.

Their stone faces used to mystify me, as I would walk through the square to get to my elementary school. Even though I could have used a hoverboard like my classmates, I chose to walk. There was something about their eyes. Vacant, because they were statues, but somehow living, as if one note from a magic flute, or some of the legendary Shikon no Tama shards would instantly bring them roaring back to life.

Now, at the age of 19, I still pass that sculpture on my way to class every morning, but only a fraction of the magic lingers. Even though I hardly think about it during the day, it creeps me out to see them at night, like their empty stone eyes are following me. But that doesn't matter, really. The only reason I still care about that fairy tale is because of my literature class.

_Research a well-known legend, and try to discover what in history lay behind it_

That was the assignment. It would have been easier if we were allowed to pick, but the professor seemed to believe his small class had special attachments to every one.

"Houjou-san, I believe you will find the story of Kaguya-hime and Fujisan quite interesting," said Professor Tezuka with a smile, handing a sheet of paper to the quiet Kotoko Houjou, a shy girl with brown hair. She nodded silently and left the room.

Each assignment went just like that, the professor noting a significance to each story for each student. Finally, I was the last one in the class, and waiting patiently for my assignment. I was curious to see what legend Tezuka would tie in to me or my family.

He cleared his throat. "You, Higurashi-san, will receive what may turn out to be more than you expect. I am going to require that you do very in-depth work on your story, and I will fail you if you only use the resources given on the paper." I sighed inwardly. Tezuka seemed to believe I had high potential, and thus pushed me harder than the others. "This legend is the most recent of all that I assigned, only 600 years old," he continued, "but it's significance is as ingrained into our culture as are the stories of Susano-oh and Amaterasu." He turned to me, beaming. "Izayoi Higurashi, I am assigning you the legend of the Shikon No Tama."

Wonderful.

Naturally, the first stop was the library, to find the books on the list Tezuka had given me. There were several thick books stacked on my table by the time I completed the list. Frowning a bit, and scratching my chin, I decided to do some extra research, just so Tezuka wouldn't fail me. I found some less-scholarly books, and a book of ukiyo-e paintings from various folk tales.

The ukiyo-e book was the most interesting, truth be told. The drawing were all ancient, but surprisingly, they all seemed to be taken from the same image. The colors, faces, and enemies were consistent, across time period and artist.

_Must be because the statue in the quad was made first_, I mused.

While flipping through a tourist guide, another tidbit of information caught my eye: _The Sunset Shrine in the Kiba district was built around the Bone-Eaters Well and Goshinbuko, the famous tree on which the miko Kagome found Inuyasha pinned. It is said that Kagome came to find Inuyasha because she traveled through the well. Visitors to the shrine can tie…_

Sunset Shrine? Kiba was only a few minutes away by train, and it WAS true that there had been a large forest surrounding the area. Since tomorrow was a Sunday, and I had the day off from class and work, I decided to head out to Kiba that day. Doing outside research had to count towards my grade, right?

I arrived early the next morning, planning to say some prayers for a good grade before doing any real exploring. Once I was finished, I began to look around. Sure enough, there was Goshinbuko, tall and majestic. I squinted my eyes a bit, imagining the Inuyasha from the statue pinned on the tree like in the legend.

I couldn't help but stifle a giggle.

"It's interesting, isn't it?" a dry, creaky voice behind me asked. I turned around and was faced by an old man dressed in the traditional garb of a Shinto priest.

I bowed politely. "I'm sorry, I should introduce myself. My name is Izayoi Higurashi. It's a pleasure to meet you, sir."

His eyes momentarily widened, then returned to their merry, almost closed state. "Higurashi, did you say?" he creaked. Heaven above, this man had to be over 100. He took a few steps toward Goshinbuko, and faced me. "It's a pity you couldn't meet my older sister. She was the expert on the Shikon no Tama, although our grandfather liked to believe he was."

"How did you—" but he cut me off.

"It's no coincidence that you found out about this shrine. Now, would you like to see the well?" He began tottering towards a run-down building, gesturing for me to follow without waiting for a response. He opened the sliding door, and stepped aside to invite me in. I took two steps inside, then immediately went back out. "No exploring, huh?" he grinned, laughter in his eyes.

I shook my head. "It's creepy in there."

He laughed. "You know, when I was eight, my sister had her 15th birthday. We were headed to school, but I couldn't find our cat, so I made her look for Buyo. Turns out the overweight feline had gone into the well house. I gave the exact same reason for not going in that you did."

It was a strange story to tell a complete stranger, but something about this old priest had me intrigued. I leaned in for to prompt him to tell more. "Yes, so my sister went into the well house for me to retrieve the cat. But you wouldn't believe what happened next!"

"What happened?" I breathed, fascinated.

"Well," he began, rubbing his chin slowly, "when I saw her again three days later, her new boyfriend had followed her. All the way through the well. Good day to you Miss Higurashi, I'm sure we'll meet again." And without another word, he trotted off toward the house.

I was left standing in the courtyard, wondering what the heck he was getting at.

New boyfriend. Through the well.

What was that supposed to mean?

I turned to leave and almost ran into my mother.

"M… mom!" I spluttered, trying to regain my composure. "What are you doing here?"

She smiled. "I would like to ask you the same, Iza-chan."

"I'm doing research for a project."

"Oh good, I'm glad you're keeping up with your studies. I'm here to visit your grandfather's uncle. I do believe you've just met him."

She pulled me towards the house, and rang the bell. A woman close in age to my mom opened the door. Her face brightened immediately, as she welcomed us in and fussed over me. "You wouldn't let us bring her over, Mako!" scolded the woman who I guessed was an aunt of some sort.

I eyed the old man in the corner, who was sipping his tea and giving me that "I know something you don't know" look. I sulked a bit, and my aunt must have interpreted that as disappointment in not knowing my family.

"And you, Jii-chan! Leading on poor Izayoi like that!" she slapped his arm playfully.

We sat and had tea for a good hour, and I caught up on this side of my family that I had never met. Finally, as noon approached, I stood up.

"I'm sorry that I must leave, but I do have a lot of research to do. May I come back again?"

My aunt and mother bid me farewell, my mother asking for a telephone call later, but my great-great-uncle stood up and escorted me out.

"I wish your great-grandmother were still around. She'd be able to answer ANY question you have."

"My great—oh, I see, your sister." But then I became puzzled. If my family was from the sister, then why was our last name still Higurashi? It seemed strange that the family name would pass down through a woman.

That mischievous glint was back in his eyes. "You know, there may be a way to ask her yourself. I'm not much for information, and the libraries certainly know much less."

His words were puzzling me more and more. I felt a flash of a temper rise in me, and were it not disrespectful for girls to beat their older relatives, I probably would have done so. But I bit back my temper, and waited for him to continue.

"Are you SURE you don't want to explore the well house a bit?"

"I fail to see what the well has to do with—" and then it clicked. "Souta-jii-san, what was my great-grandmother's first name?"

He grinned from ear to ear. "Her name was Kagome."

My eyes must have become the size of dinner plates, because I heard him laughing behind me as I ran for the well house. Slamming open the doors, I ran to the edge of the well and peered in.

There was nothing at the bottom. Nothing except a broken ladder.

"That ladder has been there for 100 years!" he called from the top of the stairs, beaming. I turned to face him, glaring quizzically.

He was stifling a laugh. "That look,' he chortled, "that look comes from your great-grandfather." He was now coming down the stairs.

Something was odd about the air in the well house. Maybe it was heat or the enclosed space, but I was sure the bottom of the well was getting deeper, becoming less solid. I must have really been leaning over the edge, because when my great-great-uncle pushed me, I went tumbling down the well.

The last thing I heard was "say hello for me!"

勇敢なDREAM振りかざし語彙名TRY繰り返し間より果て巻き日々へと君も

Probably the longest chapter I've ever written. Ah well. This is a story I've been wanting to write for some time. How will it pan out whilst I'm juggling a comic book series, finals, and several other fanfics? No clue. But I'm writing it anyway.

Review, review, review!


	2. Chapter 2

_So defeat your pain, forget the past_

_The future stands before you now_

_Let's embrace it, don't keep it locked up inside!_

Sunlight.

It was beyond my comprehension that sunlight was streaming into the well, when it had been inside a dank and musty building that was centuries old.

Where the heck was I?

I sure as heck wasn't back in the shrine in Kiba.

Not wanting to sit inside a dry well, I found some vines on the side and began my climb towards the top. Finally, I reached the top of the well, and, hoisting myself over the side, took a look around.

This definitely was not modern-day Tokyo.

The forest surrounding me was quiet. There was an occasional peep from a bird, some rustling wind, but other than that, no sounds at all. Figuring that it was no good to stay there half-in and half-out of the well, I clambered over the side and plonked down on the grass. It was then that I noticed the bicycle.

That thing was OLD. Some pink paint still remained on the frame, but most of it was taken by rust. I bent down to inspect it closer, reaching out one index finger to poke it, when a red blur swooped down, snatched me away and carried me into the tree tops.

I'm sure my screaming was heard for miles.

We stopped moving when we reached a town. If you could call it that. It was more of a half-buildings, half-huts town. Remembering what I had learned over the years in history, I placed the time as (maybe) the Edo period. This town wasn't really a town yet, but it was on it's way to being one. Somehow, the idea that I had been catapulted into the past didn't bother me all that much.

Until I got a good look at my kidnapper.

Understand that I had seen Inuyasha many, many times in my life. Heck, I saw him every day on my way to class. But somehow, seeing him in real life was overwhelming. That red haori, the white hair, the twitching dog ears.

And those determined gold eyes that used to haunt me as a kid.

And then, just like my childhood fantasies, he turned to me and spoke.

"Who are you? And how did you come through the well?" Ah, his voice was just like I had imagined it. Rough, a bit of a growl, yet strong and confident. And then, another voice joined in.

"Inuyasha!" called a female voice. The owner was running over a hill, her red hakama and white robes, the robes of a miko, fluttering in the breeze. "What are you doing, Inuyasha?" she questioned, catching her breath and staring at him, a mischievous spark in her eyes.

This must be Kagome.

The two of them stared at me, long and hard. Finally, Kagome spoke, kneeling down to become eye level with my seated self. "Hey, what's your name? I know you're not from around here."

Her voice was gentle and motherly, not unlike the stories described.

"Ah… um…" I stood, and bowed politely to them. "My name is Izayoi Higurashi. I'm pleased to meet you."

There was an audible gasp from both of them.

"I… Izayoi?" breathed Inuyasha, hesitantly.

"Higurashi?" frowned Kagome. She paused. "What year is it on the other side?"

"Huh?" I asked, confused.

"You know, on the other side of the well. Where you came from."

So THAT'S what Souta-jii-chan had been talking about!

"Um, 2096."

Kagome's eyes widened. "Has it really been THAT long?" She turned to Inuyasha. "Have we really been around for 100 years?"

He shrugged in a non-committal way. "I told you that we'd be around for centuries once we mated."

"Don't call it that in front of other people!" she chided.

"Well, that's what it is!"

"But it's embarrassing to talk about it that way in front of people!"

"Are you saying you're embarrassed, wench?"

"Argh! No! I'm just… oh, you know what I mean!"

"No, I don't know what you mean! You don't make any sense!"

"If I don't make sense, why did you mate with me?"

"Hey, you said it this time! Hypocrite!"

"That's it! OSUWARI!"

And Inuyasha went face-planting into the ground, leaving me standing around and feeling very awkward in front of these two. Kagome turned to me.

"Sorry. He's stubborn. I haven't done that to him for a while." She ignored the angry grunts from the hole in the ground. "Now, did you say your name was Izayoi Higurashi?" I nodded. "Well, I guess it makes sense. Once our kids grew up, it didn't make sense for us to hang around Tokyo, seeing as we don't age at a normal rate."

Sure enough, she didn't look a day over 25.

"But," she continued, "it makes sense that you'd descend from me and Inuyasha! I mean, you came through the well, you have my last name and the name of his mother, and you kind of look like us…" she trailed off, thinking. "What brought you here, anyway?"

"Um…" I stammered, trying to piece everything together in my mind. Me? Descended from one of Japan's greatest legends? Talk about freaky. "Well, I had a literature assignment, and it was on your legend. So, I went to the Sunset Shrine, as the brochure said it was important to the legend, and I found out that I had a great-great-uncle named Souta that I didn't even know EXISTED, and he told me some story about his sister falling down a well and bringing home a new boyfriend and something about a cat and then he suggested that _I_ go down the well and…"

"Whoa, slow down!" Kagome interrupted, putting up a hand. I hadn't noticed, that in my heightened state of emotion, I was babbling at increasing speed. "Did you say Souta was your great-great-uncle?" she asked. I nodded again. "Wow, he must be over 100 by now. I bet he's a lot like Grandpa was…" she trailed off.

Inuyasha finally came out of his hole. "What's this about a legend?" he asked, spitting out a clump of dirt.

I made a face. "I'm sure you know more of it than I do. I mean, it IS about you guys, and your battle with Naraku and the Shikon no Tama."

"Oh, that," Kagome muttered, wrinkling her nose a bit.

"It's a legend now?" Inuyasha asked, excitedly.

I nodded.

"Could you maybe tell it to us, just for fun?" Kagome asked, pleading a bit.

I didn't see why I shouldn't.


	3. Chapter 3

Well, this story is one of my lesser known ones… but the reviews I'm getting have been positive. So… onward I go.

-:-;-;-;-;-;-;-;

History

It was hard to believe that I was standing in front of living history.

Even so, Kagome – the same Kagome of legend – had just asked me to tell her my version of the story she had actually lived. I simply couldn't believe it. But they wanted to know… so I had to tell, I guess.

"Well," I began hesitantly, "once upon a time, there was a hanyou by the name of Inuyasha. After an attempt to steal the Shikon no Tama, he was sealed by the priestess Kikyo to Goshinbuko for 50 years."

One of Inuyasha's ears flicked back and forth. "Go on," he growled.

"After 50 years…"

_After 50 years, another priestess, named Kagome, appeared near Goshinbuko. Some say that she came through the Bone Eater's Well, but who can say for sure? Under Attack by a centipede, Kagome struck out in fright, and released a flash of light. This same flash awakened Inuyasha, and together, they slew the centipede. It was revealed that Kagome contained the Shikon no Tama inside her body, as it had been cremated with Kikyo upon her death. When it was stolen by a crow demon, one of Kagome's sacred arrows shattered the Shikon no Tama into many fragments._

_In the 50 years that Inuyasha had been sealed, a fearsome demon named Naraku arose, and caused trouble for many people across the land. IN their travels to recover the missing shards of the Shikon no Tama, Kagome and Inuyasha encountered Shippo the Fox, Miroku the Monk and Sango the Demon Slayer. Each had been wronged by Naraku, and the Hanyou and the Priestess agreed to help each one achieve the common goal of destroying Naraku._

_Also in their travels, they encountered Inuyasha's older brother, Sesshomaru. Their father had willed that Inuyasha receive the mighty sword, Tetsusaiga, and it was from Sesshomaru that Inuyasha obtained his famous weapon._

"Hold it," Inuyasha cut in. "Sesshomaru didn't _give_ me Tetsusaiga. I had to beat the snot out of him several times to make sure it was mine and mine alone.

"Shut up Inuyasha, you're interrupting!" retorted Kagome.

_After many battles with Naraku and his various incarnations, he was finally defeated. Inuyasha and Kagome were married, as were Miroku and Sango. Not much is known about Kagome and Inuyasha after that, but it is recorded that the prime minister can trace his lineage back to Miroku and Sango._

"That's all I know so far. I'm supposed to be doing a paper on the story."

"Wow, they sure left a lot out," Inuyasha stated, a bit surprised.

"Yeah, like about how Kikyo was brought back to life, or Kouga…"

There was an awkward pause between the two. Finally, Inuyasha grumbled, "Mangy wolf still hasn't gotten a clue after all these years."

"So… what did I leave out?" I asked, baffled. Who was Kouga? Kikyo played a more significant role other than sealing Inuyasha to the tree?

"Well, the entire story covers about three years…" Kagome was blushing. "It all started on my 15th birthday, and didn't end until I was 18. A lot happened, and I guess most of it vanished throughout history."

"Wow, Tezuka wasn't joking when he said there was more to the story than I knew."

"Wait, who's Tezuka?" Inuyasha demanded, suddenly growing tense.

"Um, my literature professor at Chiyoda college, Inari Tezuka."

Inuyasha's eyes narrowed. "What does he look like?"

"Uh, mid-forties, reddish hair, kinda short… I dunno, he's always struck me as someone who takes himself seriously, but is always up to something."

"Inuyasha, you don't think…" Kagome began, but Inuyasha interrupted her.

"It's him alright. Even though the daimyo is on a youkai-purging stint, I wouldn't put it past the little runt to escape his clutches." He whirled around to face me. "Your teacher's a tricky one. Figures he'd assign you the story he knows better than anyone living in your time today, knowing full well you'd find out everything from us." He crouched down and offered his back to me and Kagome. "I just hope Souta still keeps spare clothes for us, Kagome."

And with that, he sped off towards the well, leaving me breathless with wonder. I knew that when I saw Professor Tezuka in class on Tuesday, I would have to thank him profoundly.


	4. Chapter 4

_Send up your wish, find the highest star_

_Follow your heart, your dreams can't really be that far_

_Our yearnings will take us to them today…_

Awe.

The look on the faces of my family, which I had only met that day, was one of complete and utter awe.

All of them knew the story, had seen the statues in the quad of my college. Those same statues that represented courage and determination to all of Japan.

Seeing them live and in person was as much of a shock for my mother and my cousin as it was for me. The only person who wasn't totally blown away was Souta-jii-chan, who smiled widely and said, "welcome home, nee-chan."

Kagome made a face. "Wow, I really have been around long, huh" she remarked, figuring instantly that this old man was supposed to be her younger brother. She waved a hand in front of her face, as if to clear her thoughts. "Souta, do you…"

"Upstairs in your old room. You still have the key, right?" he grinned. The pair headed up the stairs, but as Inuyasha passed Souta-jii-chan, he swiped a hand in the air and said "Sankontessou!"

Inuyasha smirked, nodded, and followed Kagome, understanding the inside joke that the rest of us missed.

A few minutes later, Kagome and Inuyasha returned downstairs, wearing relatively normal clothes. Sure, they were bit out of fashion, but nothing too strange. Inuyasha turned to me immediately, and commanded "Let's go."

And then I was again piggy-backing with Kagome on his back. If the ride through the forest was breath-taking, the ride through the busy streets of Tokyo was exhilarating. On top of a building somewhere in Shinjuku, Inuyasha stopped, and sniffed the air. He then changed directions and continued leaping from rooftop to rooftop.

I began to notice where we were going when I saw Chiyoda University's clock tower. With a great deal of aplomb, he landed smack-dab in the center of the courtyard. Since it was Sunday, we weren't really noticed. After dismounting, Kagome caught sight of the statue that had haunted my childhood fantasies.

"No matter how many times I see it, it still freaks me out," she muttered, shaking her head solemnly.

Inuyasha's mind was elsewhere. He bent down, and began sniffing the ground. After some nosing around, he picked up whatever it was he was searching for, and ran off. Kagome and I followed, to the best of our abilities.

We finally caught up, and found him banging on a door in one of the classroom buildings, and screaming "I know you're in there! Come on out!"

The door finally opened, and to my absolute mortification, Professor Tezuka answered the door. I bowed deeply, and began mumbling apologies as quickly as I could. He stared blankly at me for a moment, then eyed Inuyasha suspiciously, then burst out laughing.

"It's all right, Higurashi! I knew that this moron would come looking for me one you found him. Congratulations."

Now I was really confused.

"Well," sighed Professor Tezuka. "Guess there's no reason for me to stay like this." There was a pop, and my forty-something literature professor was replaced with a twenty-something, somewhat hot, **_kitsune_**.

Then it hit me. Shippo. Professor Tezuka was Shippo the fox demon. The small, almost fluffy kid perched on Kagome's shoulder out in the courtyard was someone I had been around almost an entire year and I hadn't even noticed.

"So, Izayoi," he said, facing me. "How does it feel to meet your great-grandparents?"

"With all due respect, professor, you could have at least warned me. It would have saved me the trip to Kiba, too."

"I never said you COULDN'T ask me," he retorted. Then he turned to Kagome. "Kagome! It's been so long!" he cheered, hugging her.

"How did you survive the exorcisms, Shippo-chan?" she asked, once she pried the fox off of herself.

"The same way that Kouga, Sesshomaru and a lot of other more powerful youkai did. And I should remind you that I'm at least 500 years older than both of you!"

"Same old Shippo you always were…" Inuyasha muttered to himself.

"I'm not a kid anymore, Inuyasha."

"Wait, Shippo," Kagome cut in, "did you say that Kouga and Sesshomaru were still alive?"

"Yeah. Kouga's teaching history. Sesshomaru's the Prime Minister."

I almost choked at that last statement. "But I thought…" I began, but Shippo cut me off.

"He said that thing about Miroku and Sango to throw conspiracy theorists of his track."

"Hey Kagome…" Inuyasha asked. "What's a prime minister?"

"Um… that's kind of like the daimyo."

"WHAT THE HELL! Who let SESSSHOMARU be the daimyo?"

"Actually, everyone. He won by a unanimous vote," Shippo remarked, leaning back against the wall.

A door down the hall banged open, and Professor Ohyama, one of the most popular professors on campus, stuck his head out of his office. "Hey, shut up down there! I'm grading papers!" He then regarded the scene before him.

"Hey! Mutt-face! Where'ya been?" He removed a ring from his middle finger and revealed himself to also be 20-something, and apparently, a wolf youkai of some sort.

"Man, Kouga. You REEK!" Inuyasha replied, stepping between the wolf and Kagome. So that was this Kouga that Kagome and Inuyasha kept mentioning.

"Hey Kagome!" Kouga was trying to talk to her around Inuyasha, who kept standing in the way. "When dog breath dies, you can still come and be my second wife! You'll also be my favorite, of course! Whaddya say? Huh?" Each sentence was said around one of Inuyasha's shoulders, in a strange sort of dance.

"Sorry Kouga, I couldn't do that."

"Well, if you ever change your mind…"

"She's NOT changing her mind, wimpy wolf!" Inuyasha snapped.

"It's been 100 years for them, and 500 years or so for us, and some things will never change…" Shippo remarked, half to himself and half to me.

The reunion of Those Who Battled Naraku and Lived to Reminisce About It continued, and, feeling very left out, I retreated, unheard and unnoticed.

As I made my way through the courtyard back to my room, I stopped next to the statue. I had seen these people for myself, in real life. I again took note of the determination on their faces… and wished to be like them.

My life was boring. Prior to meeting Inuyasha and Kagome… my great-grandparents… I never even noticed. But after seeing history alive like that, I realized that my life was incredibly dull. The rivalries that I had heard in the hall, the battles, the romance…

None of that had ever happened to me. Was it possible that the most fascinating pair in all of legend gave rise to the most average person on the planet?

I was descended from the greatest hanyou to ever live, and I didn't even get any of the genetics.

I trudged back to my room, depressed. Oh well, at least I could start brainstorming for the essay.


	5. Chapter 5

_My heart breaks each time I try to fight reality_

_But somewhere deep inside a hero grows within me_

Monday.

The weekend passes without anything interesting happening, and now it was Monday.

A Monday afternoon for me to pick away at my paper and stare out the window, waiting for the time when I'd have to trudge off to class. Trudge across the courtyard and face the statues, which only days before, had become living breathing legends. My great-grandparents.

The sun outside was teasing me, the early spring breezes blowing through my open window calling me outside, and yet reminding me that I hadn't gotten past the first paragraph. I didn't even have a thesis. Hell, I didn't even know what Professor Tezuka… Shippo… wanted from my paper anymore!

The wind also served to remind me of my own dull life. I'd spent the weekend reading about the Shikon no Tama and wallowing in self-pity about how drab I was compared to my famous ancestors. And everyone else around me.

Damn. 10 till 12. Time for class. I sighed, minimized the window I was working in, and headed out, a little cloud of doom hanging over me in defiance of the sunny day.

When I returned, my paper was still there, glaring at me like some angry challenge. It wanted me to feel like crap. I glared back at it, ready to beat it, but instead flopped into my chair with a sigh. I was being ridiculous. I decided to check my email instead.

To my surprise (and chagrin) there was a note from Professor Shippo. He informed me that my great-grandparents would again be taking up residence in modern-day Tokyo, sometime soon. He also wanted to know how the paper was coming, and had a few suggestions.

_Higurashi-_

_So you know, Kagome and Inuyasha are going to return to this era. They say it's time to disappear again from where they've been living, so they're coming here. They still want to talk to you, so when they finish the transition, I'll let you know._

_How's the paper, by the way? I'm sure you know it's due next Tuesday, so I'll let you keep working on it. Some ideas you may want to consider: what was the full story, and why was it trimmed down? Who were some of the minor characters? And why did the Shikon no Tama play such an important role in history?_

_Well, I'll see you in class tomorrow_

_-Tezuka_

Fan-freaking-tastic. Another thing to make me feel miserable. Dammit, this was my life! Why were Japan's Greatest Heroes taking it over?

A screen popped up on my IM bar. Kotoko was trying to get me.

_-You get any research done this week for Tezuka's class?_

_**-Understatement of the century. Really.**_

_- … huh?_

_**-It's a really long story. I don't exactly feel like talking about it. Reader's Digest version: I'm supposedly descended from Inuyasha and Kagome.**_

_-Hey, me too! I mean, not the Inuyasha and Kagome part, but my family has a tie to The Bamboo Cutter's Tale! Apparently, the hagoromo of Kaguya-hime fell into the protection of the Houjou family. My ancestor Houjou Akitoki was the one who finally destroyed it._

_**-Good for you. That's neat.**_

_-There's also a mention of Kagome and the Shikon no Tama, but it's not terribly important._

_-So what's going on right now?_

I closed the window. Kotoko was a sweet girl, but she could be a bit _too_ happy, and her happiness was ruining my bad mood.

What Kotoko had just told me made sense, though. If Tezuka knew enough to give me the Shikon no Tama story, and there was some link to Kaguya-hime with that story, then he must've know about (or just plain known) Akitoki Hojo. Scary.

It then dawned on me that this Kouga character I had met yesterday wasn't in the stories at all. Maybe a report on him wouldn't be too bad. That was certainly digging deeper, that was for sure. And Kouga himself was readily accessible, as history professor Takeshi Ohyama. When were his office hours anyway?

A sharp knock on my door startled me, and I hurried over to answer it. It was Kagome.

"Hey, Izayoi-chan!" She smiled warmly. "You ran off yesterday before I could talk to you anymore. May I come in?"

Well, she sure was forward. I moved aside, and kicked my dirty clothes on the floor under my bed. I gestured that she sit down in the desk chair, and I sat on the bed.

"I just wanted to ask you about your… our family. How are they? What're they doing? How old are you?"

I thought about my grandparents, and my two great-aunts. Which ones were descended from the two? I honestly didn't know. But it didn't matter.

"All of my grandparent's generation: Grandma and Grandpa on both mom and dad's sides, and Auntie Kaede and Auntie Mizuki… all of them are dead. They died before I was four."

"Oh," came her soft reply. Her face was sad. She sniffed a bit, then tried to smile. "It's weird, huh, out-living your kids…" she trailed off, and stared out the window.

"You knew this would happen, Kagome," Inuyasha's voice growled softly at my door. We turned to see him, a black Hanshin Tigers cap hiding his ears. "The kids were all more or less human, without enough youki to extend their lives. It's natural."

"I know, I just…" she sighed again. I remembered something my mom had said at a friend's funeral. The woman's mother had been present, and was wailing in grief.

"_A mother shouldn't have to see her children die."_

There was an awkward, sad silence.

"Well," said Inuyasha, nodding towards the hall, "we promised Shippo we'd have lunch with him to talk about jobs. Apparently there are a lot of positions he can get us."

"Right," Kagome replied, standing as well. "It was nice talking to you, Izayoi. Have lunch with me tomorrow?"

I nodded. Lunch, even if I felt inferior, would be nice.

When the door closed behind her, I sunk down on my bed and cried, feeling completely at a loss.


	6. Chapter 6

_The thing that held me back was brushed aside_

_The past I left is far behind_

_The future is waiting, so hurry up and let's go!_

Heartache.

Nothing gets rid of heartache like a good cry, followed by talking to someone who just might know exactly what you mean.

Needless to say, when I had lunch with Kagome, she seemed to know exactly how I felt: even though she had LIVED one of the greatest legends ever, she knew where I was coming from.

She had also brought a friend, though at the time, her friend looked more like her grandmother. "This is Kaname Kururugi, Izayoi," she introduced me to this withered old lady. "Kaname showed up one day outside of the villiage, wearing her school uniform."

Oh WONDERFUL, another chunk of the Shikon no Tama story that I didn't know. But apparently this woman had shown up in the Sengoku Jidai, time traveled.

But as she told her story in a soft, creaky voice, I began to realize that here was someone who understood, who had felt it first hand to be in the shadow of Inuyasha and Kagome and somehow made her own story about it. I listened with undivided attention as she told me about the doll festival, her feelings of inadequacy, and finally coming into her own as she traveled with the others through the Sengoku Jidai, and finally won a small victory against the villain I'd read so much about: Naraku.

"And then," she said, "I returned here. To my normal life. I saw Kagome here once or twice, but my life went on just as any normal high school student's would. I grew up, had kids, and grew old. That one adventure was something I can never forget, but I don't think I'd like living that lifestyle like Kagome here…"

She settled back in her chair and sighed, and Kagome turned to me. "Before falling through the well, my life was boring and ordinary, too. I know I'm probably not one to talk, but it is rather easy to feel like just another face in the crowd here."

I glanced at my watch, and realized that it was time for class. I was going to be late. I jumped up, and Kagome and Kaname-san nodded, understanding my rush.

I left them, to talk about life on the other side and reminisce.

I rushed into class, out of breath. Professor Tezuka smiled warmly and asked, with a twinkle in his eyes, "how was lunch?"

I could only assume that he must have known Kaname-san as well (seeing as he had _been_ there), but I still felt as if Kaname-san and Kagome had known exactly what I was feeling. I felt… relieved, almost.

Class went by uneventfully. No one else has the slightest clue that their slightly dumpy Lit Professor was actually a character straight out of a fairy tale book.

And even though I felt like an outside eavesdropper on some great secret, I felt comforted. Comforted in knowing that I wasn't the only one who felt the need to be something more than myself, and also in knowing that I knew what to write my paper on.

It was funny, almost, how quickly my emotions had changed. But isn't that the way emotions are, especially at this time in my life when I was still trying to figure out who I was and my own lot in life? And then I found that, while I was still sad, I felt… understood. Completely understood, and all it took was Japan's Number One Heroine telling me that even _she_ felt inadequate and forgotten – even inferior.

Kaname-san had also conveyed to me what would probably remain with me the rest of my life: that being ordinary was okay. That I didn't have to be someone great and famous to be happy with my life.

I swallowed the lump building in the back of my throat, and when class was finished, Professor Tezuka beckoned me aside. "Is everything okay, Higurashi?" he asked, concern knitting his eyebrows together.

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"Got a topic yet?"

I nodded. "But you'll have to read the paper to find out."

The twinkle returned to his eyes, and for a moment I imagined that they were as green as they had been when I first saw the undisguised kitsune he really was.

"I can't wait to read it, then."

I bowed and quietly left the room, heading back to my dorm to write what I planned on being my magnum opus.

_A word from Ryune:_

_Yes. I am going to write the paper. All of it. _

_But it will be a while before I get around to it, seeing as I'm putting off writing two of my own papers. College is tough, boys and girls. Things like fanfiction have to take the back burner._

_But once I write Izayoi's paper, I'll definitely post it._

_And I write some dang good college papers._


End file.
